The mission of MedCruise Association is to promote the cruise industry in the Mediterranean and its adjoining seas.

Therefore, the Association assists its members in benefiting from the growth of the cruise industry by providing networking, as well as promotional and professional development opportunities.

Below you might find some of the key benefits that the Association offers to its membership, as well as the links to the standard application forms.

Representation at major Cruise Shipping events

Among the many benefits that the Association is offering, one might include the fact that it provides a platform for the representation of both its port and associate members in all major cruise related events around the globe.

Seatrade Europe, Seatrade Med, Cruise Shipping Miami, Seatrade Winter Cruising Forum are some of these examples. The Italian Cruise day, the International Cruise Summit in Madrid, the Adriatic forum, are examples of regional events where MedCruise is also present.

Members that wish to participate in Seatrade Europe or Cruise Shipping Miami without a stand, can use the MedCruise stand to organise meetings and promote their ports.

In the case of Seatrade Med, all MedCruise members might exhibit inside the MedCruise Pavilion enjoying preferential treatment in terms of location, centrality and cost of space.

Meeting Cruise Line Executives (B2B meetings)

MedCruise organises two General Assemblies per year, attended by more than 100 port and cruise line executives. Cruise Line executives are invited to intervene in these General Assemblies and devote the last day in B2B meetings with our members.

Professional Development Courses free to members

MedCruise contributes to advancing the professionalism of its members. The 2015 MedCruise Professional Development Course (PDC) was held on board Costa Diadema, in February 2015, during a 3-day cruise in the West Med. Past editions of the MedCruise PDC were held in Heraklion, Greece, and in London, UK, providing opportunities to exchange views, as well as learn and share best practices.

Reaching new Source Markets

The Association has also expanded its presence in new source markets, heading ‘East’. This expansion included the participation in cruise events in Asia, starting from Cruise Shipping Asia- Pacific, the circulation of special brochures in Chinese presenting the attractiveness of the Mediterranean region distributed to travel agents in China, as well as the publication of three editions of a related promotional video.

MedCruise Studies

Similar benefits result from the progress of the several MedCruise studies published every year. Recent examples include:

Port Finance Studies that give the MedCruise members tools for financing port development

The statistical reports published every year provide useful data as regards the cruise industry and the Mediterranean ports.

Cruise Line Directory

All MedCruise members are offered exclusive access to MedCruise Cruise Line Directory, which forms a detailed directory of all major cruise line companies including fleet details, as well as contact information of cruise line executives related to the departments of Senior Management, Itinerary Planning, Marine and Port Operations, Shore Excursions etc.

Inclusion in Key directories

The MedCruise annual yearbook is a key publication distributed to more than 2.000 people in the sector and includes information about each member’s key features, tourist attractions, and infrastructure information. The Newsletter (a quarterly publication) offers additional information that members would like to distribute and is circulated to the cruise sector around the globe.

Promotion via the MedCruise website & social media

Meanwhile, new features are constantly being added at the MedCruise website, where the members can create their profile and upload their news. Along with the MedCruise presence in social media, the Association provides to its members a tool for promoting themselves and also a platform of communication with the cruise lines, since the MedCruise team is working closely with the cruise lines and other international associations from the cruise sector, to ensure that it continues being a catalyst for the cruise business, benefiting its members and the whole industry.

Notably, each member maintains a section at the website that includes several technical features, thus increasing the visibility of what each port member might offer to cruise lines and passengers.

Several networking opportunities

Members of the MedCruise family have developed a friendly professional network that enables exchanges of information, and the discussion and development of best practices.

Links with other Associations and Institutions

In addition MedCruise is in close relation with other associations, like ESPO and CLIA Europe developing joint initiatives promoting cruise activities in the Med and its adjoining seas.

European institutions, including the European Commission, the Committee of the regions, and the Economic and Social Committee are all institutions that have recently invited MedCruise to provide its views on cruise port and cruise activities developments.